As WBBM Newsradio 780’s Dave Dahl reports, before a state House Appropriations Committee, Gary Hannig was not surprised with the line of questioning, when state Rep. Kenneth Dunkin (D-Chicago) turned to minority hiring.

“The agency that you inherited, it’s just had historic – a good portion of the community I work for, has had problems with,” Dunkin said.

Hannig says the Illinois Department of Transportation is making progress in minority hiring – the kind that takes a long time to show up.

“I guess a way to look at it is in a baseball analogy, you are 0 for 18, and then suddenly you come to bat one day, and have a good day, and you go 2 for 2. Now you’re on a hot streak. But you’re still only hitting 100, right?” Hannig said.

Hannig says one problem is there is not a lot of hiring going on at the department at all.